An Outward Facing Circle
Which direction are your people facing?
I want to share one of my favorite exercises to do with groups (including churches or members of a ministry). You’ve probably done something like this before.
First… I ask a group of about a dozen or so of the people in attendance to stand in a circle… facing each other. Then I ask them, if they’re willing, to hold hands with each other.
We then talk about the power of this beautiful symbol.
A group of people, looking each other in the eye, holding hands. An unbreakable bond. A circle of safety, loyalty, mutual care. A circle of love. A symbol of people who would show up for each other, encourage each other, and help one another grow. A truly beautiful circle symbolizing our faith.
Then I’ll ask them to drop their hands for a moment.
I’ll ask each of them to turn around.
Grasp hands again.
Now it’s the same people in the same circle… but the people in the circle are all facing outward.
Now we talk about the power of this symbol.
A group of people who trust each other, holding hands. An unbreakable bond. A circle that is still safe, full of loyalty, and full of mutual care. A circle of love. A symbol of people who will still show up for each other, encourage each other, and help each other grow. But this circle is different than the first. This circle is facing outward. Their attention is on the people outside the circle. Their focus is not on protecting each other — that’s a given — their focus is on loving those outside their bonds. Their focus is on their neighbors.
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear… Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ … Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20:19–22)
Do not be afraid.
Peace be with you.
We are sent out of our doors and into the lives of the people around us.
Even when the world is scary. Especially then.
Doing church/ministry growth the right way is hard work. It’s slow work. It’s patient work. And it takes more than some facilitated exercise and holding of hands.
But it can start by reorienting a congregation’s focus. By changing the reasons (slowly, over time) that we gather faithfully. Shifting from a circle facing inward to one that puts our energy, attention, and intention on our neighbor’s lives.